


Quarantine

by Little_Miss_Numbers



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: First Kiss, Illnesses, M/M, Major Illness, Minor amnesia, Organ Theft, Romance, Separation, Vidiians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-15 21:31:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15421995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Miss_Numbers/pseuds/Little_Miss_Numbers
Summary: When Tom and Chakotay crash their shuttle on the Vidiian home world they get separated. Chakotay in the quarantine zones and Tom in one of the eerily too clean cities where the healthy Vidiians live their lives.





	Quarantine

Tom felt like someone had driven a spike through his skull. He groaned and squinted at the bright light above him when he tried to open his eyes. He closed his eyes tightly and waited for the room to stop spinning. 

"Oh good you're awake."

The voice was feminine and Tom didn't recognize it. He forced himself to open his eyes again, and saw the face of a petite blonde woman dressed in white smiling at him. Tom blinked, forcing his eyes to adjust to the well lit room.

It definitely looked like a hospital room. Everything was white and spotless, and though the technology was alien, he recognized basic equivalents to the type of equipment he'd find in Voyager's sickbay. The technology here was advanced.

"I'm Dr Eschella. How are you feeling?" asked the woman. "We knitted your broken bones and healed your injuries, but we weren't comfortable giving you pain medication without a better understanding of your physiology. We're not really used to off-worlders here."

Eschella was definitely alien too, Tom thought looking at her. Though other than a strong forehead she could almost pass for human. Still, he couldn't place her species.

"I'm OK," said Tom. "Just a headache."

He noticed a breeze and looked over to see an open window and tall clean buildings stretch out as far as he could see.

"Where am I?" he asked. "The last thing I remember..." Tom's eyes went wide as the shuttle crash came back to him. He'd been exchanging fire with an alien ship and after taking a bad hit that had knocked out he'd aimed the shuttle for the nearest class M planet. "The Vidiian homeworld."

"Yes, that's right," Eschella confirmed.

Tom pushed himself up against the head of his bed and started feeling around his abdomen in a panic, not that he'd be able to tell if any of his organs had been taken. Not with technology as advanced as theirs. Still he felt whole. At least for the moment.

"I need to get out of here," said Tom getting up. He was wearing a white hospital gown. "Where's my uniform?" Another flash of memory. "Chakotay," he said to the woman. "The man I was travelling with, where is he?"

Eschella frowned. She looked liked Tom’s sudden erratic behaviour was making her nervous. "You were found alone," she said. 

Paris felt an ice cold child fill his stomach. He started to get up, but Eschella put a firm hand on his shoulder. "You need to rest," she said firmly. "You're still not healed. If you move too much before the knitting has time to set you could re-injure something."

"I have to find my friend," Tom insisted. Despite the headache his mind was racing. "He was with me when we crashed."

"You were alone," Eschella repeated. "We did a scan when we found your shuttle, your friend wasn't with you."

Tom stared at Eschella and debated if she was telling the truth or not. She seemed sincere. But he had more than enough reason not to trust Vidiians. "What does that mean?" he asked. "He wasn't in the general area? He wasn't in the city?"

"It was a planet wide scan for other off-worlders," she said. "He's not on Vidiian prime. Not unless..." she stopped. "No, that's not possible."

"Unless what?" pressed Tom.

"Unless he somehow ended up in the quarantine zone."

 

*

 

_"We're not gonna make it," said Tom, his voice was eerily calm considering the situation. "We're coming in too hot and I can't slow it down. We're going to crash into those buildings."_

_"Transporters?" asked Chakotay._

_"I don't know if we have enough power."_

_"It's our best chance," said Chakotay._

_Paris looked grim and Chakotay briefly thought there was something he wasn’t saying--if only there was time. But Paris nodded and reached for the controls. "Here's hoping we don't energize inside a wall or something."_

Well, Chakotay thought as he woke up stiff on a cold cobble stone floor. At least he wasn't inside a wall. He looked around. He was obviously in some kind of alleyway. With large looming dark buildings all around and junk littered everywhere. There were people too, but mostly at a distance and mostly ignoring them as they lay against their section of wall and makeshift shelters and coughed from the phage.

No sign of Tom.

Chakotay checked his pockets, both his communicator and phaser were missing. Great. 

He heard voices.

"Just around the corner, it’s an off-worlder, but we can adapt his organs to suit us of course. No sign of any phage. Hurry, before someone else finds him."

"Shit," Chakotay pushed himself off and headed quickly in the opposite direction of the voices.

"He's not here!" said a second voice. "If you brought us out here for nothing--"

"There he goes, that way!" 

"Get him!"

Chakotay ran. Through dark alleys he didn't know and dodging random strewn junk and vidiians who either didn't care or actively tried to trip him as he went by.

He jumped a sleeping Vidiian, rounded a corner and found himself facing a giant brick wall.

"He went this way!"

"Get your phasers ready!"

"Psst!" Chakotay turned to see a small wooden door to his left being held open by a surprisingly healthy looking young man. "In here!"

Chakotay didn't waste any time. And was relieved to hear the door close and lock behind him.

It took a moment for Chakotay's eyes to adjust to the low lighting in the room, but when he did he could see he was in a small room, with a single small window and a roof so low it brushed the top of his head when he stood straight up. There were some chairs and a table, and technology he didn't quite recognize that hummed comfortingly in the corner. 

"Would you like something to drink?" asked the man who saved him. 

Chakotay gave him another look. He had olive skin and what Chakotay thought were kind eyes. And even in the dark he could see he wasn't showing any obvious signs of phage. 

"Just water if you have it," said Chakotay. "And thank you."

"I don't like anyone who harvests organs from living people," said the young man. "Even off-worlders who appear with no explanation." He gave Chakotay a curious look and went to the back of the room and asked for two glasses of water from a replicator. 

Chakotay knew he was fishing for information, but he thought it best to err on the side of caution. He didn’t say anything.

"My name is Mitsah Len," said the man. "I"m a doctor here."

"Chakotay," said Chakotay. "You don't look like most Vidiians I've met."

Mitsah smiled. "You mean I look healthy."

"So you are then--you don't have the phage?"

Mitsah nodded. "We do exist. Though you won't find many healthy or near healthy Vidiians here. And the ones you do find don't usually stay healthy very long." Mitsah suddenly looked very sad. "Stay with me. I have protection, I can keep you safe."

"It's a kind offer," said Chakotay. "But I don't plan on staying long."

Mitsah surprised Chakotay by laughing. "I doubt anyone here would stay if they could help it."

 

\----

 

_Tom stifled a yawn as he stepped into the mess. He would have loved to have just gone back to his quarters, replicate a simple sandwich he could quickly scarf down, and collapse on his bed. But he was out of rations, which meant if he wanted to eat, he was stuck with leftovers from whatever Neelix had made for dinner that evening._

_There was a small scattering of people around, Voyager's current skeleton night shift crew, all finally off for the night, and Paris bee-lined with his tray to a small barely occupied table in a corner._

_"Exciting night, Commander?" he asked taking the seat across from him._

_Chakotay smiled. "Very. We documented 4 quasars and 3 subspace echoes."_

_"Riveting," said Tom taking a bite of whatever liquidity brown thing Neelix had served that evening. He pulled a face. "Why does everything Neelix make have to use Leola Root?"_

_Tom was hungry enough he ate it anyways. Chakotay laughed. "The Terrelian Fever outbreak keeping you busy in sickbay?"_

_"Unfortunately. Between that and working double shifts to cover com duties too I'm about ready to cocoon myself in my quarters and sleep for about 2 weeks straight," said Tom. "You know I haven't been to Sandrine's in over a month."_

_"Seems like it's just one thing after another," Chakotay agreed._

_"And if you don't make time when you have the chance, you miss it," said Tom._

_"Tell you what," said Chakotay, "the next time we have a lull, let's have a game of pool."_

_"Yeah, sure," said Tom. He was mopping up whatever was left of that Leola Root dish. He had to report to the com in 6 hours and he was determined to get every bit of sleep he could between now and then. "Surprised you're so willing to let me kick your ass in the holodeck."_

_"You're pretty sure of yourself," said Chakotay following Tom with their trays to the replicator._

_"Against you, always," said Tom feeling cocky._

_He was halfway out of the mess hall when he heard Chakotay behind him. "Alright, so it's a date."_

 

Tom couldn't help looking around as he walked through the Vidiian city. It was awe inspiring. Beautiful architecture with large open walkways and a clear view in every area of the large open sky. Still something seemed off to him.

"The Phage arrived over 2 millenia ago," Eschella explained as they walked. Once Tom had healed enough for her satisfaction she'd offered to be his guide while he was still on the planet. "We adapt, and it adapts. The quarantines though, created a system that allowed us to thrive again. Build cities and live our lives without having to be afraid. For the first time in a very long time we're able to create again. To live our lives without being in constant fear. The only thing I regret is that we're still grounded. I've always wanted to go into space. There was a time where our technology was the envy of the entire sector's."

Tom looked at Eschella and wondered what she really knew. 

"Where is everyone?" he changed the subject. He realised he hadn't seen a single other person since they left the hospital. He was used to large cities like this being filled with people, especially on a beautiful like this. Here he felt like he was in a ghost town.

"This way," said Eschella, turning a corner, without answering him.

Tom followed her to a small square near a fountain and immediately forgot about any suspicions that had been forming. The fountain itself was half destroyed, and there were black marks on some of the nearby buildings and all over the square. And about 20 metres ahead of the fountain was a giant piece of charred metal that had once been his shuttle. 

"You're lucky to be alive," said Eschella. "We looked at your flight plan and it looks like you aimed the shuttle between the buildings on purpose to avoid hitting anybody. It must have taken some very skilled piloting when you thought you were about to die. We're very grateful."

Tom honestly didn't remember. Though he had to admit, it sounded like the kind of dumb heroics he would have pulled. 

There were two Vidiians with his shuttle. And Tom didn't recognize their instruments, but could guess they were scanners of some sort. 

They introduced themselves as being sent by the Soladity, which immediately put Tom on alert.

"She looks salvageable," said the first one. "Definitely looks worse than it is."

"Gonna need a lot of parts though," said the second. "Might take us a couple days to get them all."

Tom blinked, "You're helping me leave?"

"Unless you want to stay," said the first Soladity officer. "You're welcome to, but off-worlders generally want to get away as soon as possible," he smirked. 

"No, it's fine, I can wait for parts," said Tom. "But actually, I wasn't alone. I had a friend with me. Any sign of someone else, even..." Tom stopped. He didn't want to think about what a crash like this might have done to Chakotay's body. 

He wasn't sure if he was relieved or not when the Soladity officers both shook their head. "No sign at all of anyone in this craft but you. If your friend was in there we would have found some traces."

"Tom your body went through a major trauma, it's very common to have memory troubles," said Eschella. "Are you sure he didn't disembark the shuttle some time before you crashed?"

"No I remember..." Tom stopped himself. Remembered being attacked by Vidiian ships just before changing course towards Vidiian prime. He felt something uncomfortable knot up in his stomach. All three Vidiians were looking at him with innocent curiosity. It made no sense.

Tom shook his head. "He was with me just before the crash," he said. Now he wondered if the Vidiians had somehow got him anyways. If maybe Chakotay had already been killed and carved up for organs and he was next. But then why not do it already? They had him unconscious, why create an elaborate scheme like this?

Tom wished he still had his phaser, but it had been destroyed in the crash. He checked his communicator again. Still nothing. He sent out another signal anyways, just in case.

"You seem really worried about him," said Eschella watching him.

"Yeah, well," Tom shrugged like it was no big deal. "He owes me a game of pool."

 

*

 

_"We have to go back!" yelled Tom._

_But Chakotay grabbed him and stopped him_

_The ground was shaking and wanting to go back into the caves for the dilithium when the walls could come down at any moment had Chakotay wondering, not for the first time, if Tom had a death wish._

_"We'll be trapped without it," said Tom struggling to get loose. "We can't beam it out."_

_"We'll find more," said Chakotay. "Or we’ll figure something else out. It's not worth--"_

_Just then there was another large ground shake and both Tom and Chakotay were knocked to the ground. And then before either of them could move, the entire cave beside them collapsed in on itself._

_Tom had landed on top of Chakotay so he was straddling him, and was looking about as angry as Chakotay was feeling right at that moment. And then something seemed to shift in his eyes as if he suddenly noticed the position they were in._

_For a moment both of them held completely still…_

"Wake up!"

Chakotay groaned and it took him a moment to realise he wasn't in his usual bed. For one thing, this particular bed was just a few blankets on the floor.

"You slept 10 hours, do you humans usually require so much sleep?" asked Mitsah.

"Uh, no," said Chakotay yawning and sitting up. He disconcertedly rubbed the sleep out of his eye. It had been a while since he’d had that particular dream. "Not usually quite that much."

"Well I hope you're properly rested now," said Mitsah. I'm going on my rounds soon and I can use your help. If you're going to stay with me you need to earn your keep."

Chakotay was a bit nervous about going back outside with Mitsah, but it turned out to be fine. He soon discovered so long as he kept close to the young doctor, everyone left him alone. And the patients, who were much more the type of Vidiians Chakotay was used to, seemed grateful to anyone who was working with Mitsah. Even giving him friendly advice as he tried to carry out Mitsah's orders, most of which consisted of 'hold his leg steady' and 'pass me that hypospray.'

Chakotay was impressed with Mitsah too. Most of his patients sat ill in alleyways with shoddily made tents for shelters, with only a few very lucky ones who had a room to sleep in. Still much smaller than even Mitsah’s place. And Mitsah knew every one of them. By name, by former occupation, by interests and personal history. He chatted with them like they were equals. With a sense of dignity and respect as they made jokes about the shitty weather, and not a hint of pity. 

"Like most doctors on Vidiian Prime, I arrogantly thought that I could cure the phage," Mitsah explained as they made their way back to their house. 

"You're still young," Chakotay pointed out. "You have time."

But Mitsah shook his head. "Research is time consuming, and takes more resources than are available here in the quarantine. At least not without doing things I’m not interested in doing," he added. "Besides, actually being among phage sufferers, I'd much rather focus on easing their suffering. A cure in 20 years won't help someone in the late stages of the disease today."

Chakotay frowned, this wasn't the first time Mitsah had mentioned being in a quarantine area. "Why come here then?"

"We have one more patient," said Mitsah cryptically. 

To Chakotay's surprise Mitsah led him back to his place. Through the tiny single room he'd been in and through the inconspicuous door at the back. It was a small room with a large bed in the middle and the the only other window in the whole apartment, though the blinds were closed and it looked like whoever was in the bed was asleep. 

Mitsah walked softly over and gently shook the person awake. They stirred and finally sat up, It was an adolescent girl who looked like she was in the early phases of the phage. "Is it time for my medication already?"

"Chakotay, this is my sister Anel. Anel, this is Chakotay. I finally found someone healthy enough to help me with my rounds."

Anel smiled. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr Chakotay."

"Both our parents contracted the phage when we were very young," Mitsah explained afterwards, once he’d gotten them both some tea. "Anel never knew our parents, I barely remember them. We were raised by an aunt for a while, but she contracted it too. When I was still in school. Anel and I have only ever had each other."

"That sounds difficult," said Chakotay.

Mitsah didn't answer. He just clutched his mug harder. "They believe there's a genetic component to the phage. To explain why some families are more susceptible than others. And why the phage wreaks havoc on the Vidiian population, but barely seems to affect off-worlder populations that come into contact with us.

"When Anel started showing symptoms of the phage, I didn't feel like I had a choice. I couldn't leave her to face quarantine alone. Especially at her age. She's not even an adult yet."

"She's very lucky," said Chakotay. "Having a brother like you." Chakotay couldn't help to think of his own younger sister back in the alpha quadrant, and wonder how she was doing without him.

Mitsah's smile was bittersweet. "It doesn't feel lucky," he said. "But thanks anyways. I appreciate you being here. Patients in the early phases of the phage sleep a lot. It's been lonely."

"Mitsah, I don't plan on staying long. I need to find a communications array and find my friend."

"That...may be difficult, but we can try," said Mitsah. He was looking at Chakotay with a lot of concern. Like he didn't think Chakotay quite understood the gravity of the situation he was in. "Are you sure your friend is alive?"

Chakotay honestly wasn't. He'd been thinking about it that morning. The most likely explanation is that Tom had just materialized somewhere else, but there was that moment, just before the beam out where Tom had hesitated before setting the transporter. If he'd stayed and crashed with the shuttle...

"Tom has a way of surviving things he has no business surviving," said Chakotay with a lot more confidence than he felt. "He's out there."

 

*

 

_There wasn't supposed to be native inhabitants on this planet, but obviously the computer had made a mistake because there were at least 6 of them, all looking particularly dangerous with spears and bow and arrows pointed at the away team._

_Tom slowly reached for his phaser. Already pushing the buttons needed for a field burst on stun, he thought if he moved fast enough he should able to hit all of them before they could attack._

_He felt a hand on his shoulder, and suddenly Chakotay lips were beside his ear. "Drop it," he said. Then, "Trust me. Follow my lead."_

_Paris took another look at sharp weapons pointed at them, but dropped his phaser anyways. Chakotay did the same. He raised both hands and said in his calmest voice, "We come in peace."_

_Tom threw his hands up too, and ensign Lin quickly copied them as well._

_The aliens spoke in a language the universal translator hadn't figure out yet, and Chakotay repeated, "We come in peace. We're friends."_

_Then he knelt down. Tom and Lin quickly copied. The aliens, they stood cautiously talking softly to themselves. Tom heard the moment where the soft tones went from an unknown alien language to, "...do with them? Where did they come from?"_

_"We're from the Federation," said Chakotay. "Please can we talk?"_

_The aliens looked startled, but Tom was relieved when their leader motioned to the others to lower their weapons. Once the two could talk, things quickly became a lot more peaceful, and they even helped the away team gather food._

_Later Tom would ask Chakotay how he knew they were friendly._

_"You have to look past the weapons," he said. "Look past the danger. Look at what their eyes are telling you."_

 

"We're sorry Mr Paris," said the Soladity official on the other side of the com screen. "We cannot allow you to search the quarantine areas."

"Come on," said Tom. "I'll go to where he was most likely transported, and see if he's there, and I'll leave the planet, with or without him."

"The risk of contamination is still too great," said the Soladity official. "If your friend did end up in the quarantine areas, it's likely he's already contracted the phage. Consider yourself lucky you didn't suffer the same fate. We suggest mourning him and moving on."

"Can we at least do a scan?" asked Tom. "See if there's another human in there?"

The soladity official looked unimpressed at the request. "Goodbye, Mr Paris."

The screen went blank. Eschella looked guilty when Tom turned around. And Tom realised she knew this would be the result.

"They don't see any point in doing a scan because as far as they're concerned once you've entered the quarantine, that's it."

There was a finality to her tone that gave Paris chills. "You knew they'd say no."

"I knew you had to try," she said. 

Tom felt himself deflate. "Yeah," he agreed. 

They were back in her office at the hospital. It was a nice area, with an open window to a beautiful day. But all Tom could think about was Chakotay, and where was he now. Assuming he was even alive.

"I need to do my rounds," said Eschella. "Will you be alright?"

"Yeah, I'll just hangout," said Tom, "Hey, do you mind if I use your computer?"

"Go ahead," she said, and left.

The interface for Vidiian computers was a little different than what he was used to, but not hard to figure out. Especially after watching Eschella use it all day. 

Tom looked up Vidiian history. Especially anything surrounding the phage and the quarantine zones. He was very quickly frustrated with how little information there seemed to be on Vidiians with the phage once the quarantine system had been put in place just over a century ago. And nothing at all on what happens once you're in the quarantine areas.

There was also no mention of space programmes, no mention of organ stealing. Tom knew the government was aware of what was going on, he'd had encounters with Vidiians associated with the Soladity. But it was the first time it had occurred to him that maybe the average Vidiian might not have any idea what their fellow people were up to.

 

*

 

_"I'm OK," Chakotay lied. Though was he really lying, because really he always imagined being speared through the abdomen would hurt a lot more than this. He barely felt anything at all. In fact it felt almost euphoric._

_"Shit," said Tom and he was already pulling off his jacket to press it against the wound._

_Chakotay let out a gasp of air._ That _hurt._

_"This isn't the time to be stoic," he admonished Chakotay."Someone get the med kit!" he called out._

_It was a freak accident, a piece of loose metal that went flying after a small explosion on the abandoned ship. Chakotay was starting to feel a bit light headed. And he didn't get why Tom was so upset because really he was feeling kind of good. He was glad Tom was there though, he liked it when Tom was nearby._

_"Stay with me, Chakotay," said Tom, still pressing down hard on his abdomen and coordinating getting him back to the ship. "Come on Chakotay, talk to me."_

_"Talk about what?" asked Chakotay, he had to admit sleep sounded kind of nice right now._

_"I dunno anything," said Tom. "Tell me about your family, your least favourite Neelix dish, whatever you want."_

_"Leola root," said Chakotay without missing a beat. Tom laughed. Tom had a nice smile and Chakotay wondered why he'd never noticed before._

_Tom suddenly looked at him in surprise and Chakotay had just enough time to wonder if he'd said that out loud when the transporter beam whisked him back to sick bay._

 

"Pass me the that Hypospray," said Mitsah. 

"Huh?"

"The one with the green handle," said Mitsah a bit impatiently.

"Right," said Chakotay. Their patient was an older woman named Bayze. Chakotay had remembered her as a lot livelier and very funny the day before. But now she was incoherent and barely seemed to have the energy to sit up. 

"Late stages of the phage," Mitsah had explained when they arrived. "Near the end it starts to eat at their brain, and you'll have lucid days and days where you have no idea what's going on. Vidiian medical technology is advanced, but once the brain is gone there's no saving them." He estimated Bayze had about 5 months left. Until then he was determined to make her as comfortable and pain free as possible. 

"Distracted?" asked Mitsah as he administered the painkiller and calming agents to Bayze making her immediately calmer and drowsy. 

"Just thinking about how you have a better bedside manner than my friend," said Chakotay with a smile. 

Mitsah laughed. And Bayze smiled too though Chakotay didn't think she really understood what they were talking about.

Mitsah packed up and promised her he'd check on her again in the morning. She didn't seem to hear, but he made sure to tell her anyways. 

Then they made their way back to Mitsah's house. 

"So your friend, is he a doctor of some kind?" Mitsah asked as they walked. 

"More like a nurse," said Chakotay. 

"You must be very fond of him, you talk about him a lot," Mitsah commented. 

"I'm just worried," said Chakotay, then quickly changing the subject. "Any luck on finding a communications array?"

"I've made a few inquiries," said Mitsah. "Nothing yet, but there is a couple of Soladity agents who owe me a favour, so I'm hopeful."

"I appreciate your help," said Chakotay. "Though I don't understand, why is it so hard to communicate outside the quarantine areas?"

Mitsah had that look again. The one that seemed to be a mix of pity and indulgence. "Contact outside is...discouraged," he said. "There's official channels of course, but it's a process."

Chakotay frowned. Not liking how cut off he felt here. 

"Chakotay," said Mitsah. "Have you considered the possibility that your friend may not want you to contact him?"

"You don't know Tom," said Chakotay confidently.

Mitsah didn't look like he believed him, but had the delicacy not to argue. _You'll learn soon enough_ , that expression seemed to be saying. It gave Chakotay chills. 

 

They were almost back to Mitsah's place when someone came running around the corner calling out, "Doctor! We need you!"

The man was in late stages of the phage, skin practically falling off his muscles. Chakotay was ashamed to say he was so revolted looking at it that he turned to focus his attention on Mitsah.

"What is it," asked Mitsah, completely unaffected as he made eye contact with the man.

"It's Bayze," he said. "Someone stole her kidneys."

 

"We just left here," said Chakotay. When they'd left Bayze she'd been distant but calm and Chakotay had hoped she'd be lucid again next time they'd met. Now she was laying on her side, shaking on the cold hard cobblestone only inches from the blanket she'd been sitting on. 

"She's in shock," said Mitsah, "Chakotay get my bag."

A crowd was starting to form around them. 

Mitsah grabbed the box and grabbed his tricorder as quickly as he could and began scanning.

"She has a functional heart, liver, spleen and I think her left lung is functional. Organs go to whoever is present and most in need. Line up for scans please."

Chakotay looked at Mitsah like he didn't recognize him. He wondered if he'd heard right. But Mitsah was scanning people in the crowd while Bayze continued to shake completely unhelped. Chakotay thought he looked uncharacteristically detached.

"What the hell are you doing?" demanded Chakotay. "You can't let her die!"

"I can't save her," said Mitsah impatiently, not looking up from his scans. "Kidneys are very important for Vidiians, we can't survive more than a few hours without them."

"So you're just going to divvy up her organs like an animal," said Chakotay. 

"Yes," said Mitsah coldly. And this time he did actually lower his tricorder and look Chakotay in the eye, "I can save other 5 other lives if I act now. If I do nothing six people die instead of one. You can help me or you can get out of the way, I don't care which."

"Maybe that was their plan," said Chakotay. "Take one of her organs and have you come in and serve up the rest."

"Maybe," agreed Mitsah. Chakotay thought his reaction was dismissive. He also thought that maybe this wasn't as unusual a situation as he originally thought and all of this had occurred to Mitsah long ago. "Well?" he asked.

Chakotay took a breath and wondered if he was going to regret this. "Fine, tell me what to do," he said. 

Mitsah put him to work. 

 

It wasn't until much later that Mitsah and Chakotay found themselves back at Mitsah's place. Both exhausted and aware of the late hour where both should have been long asleep. Mitsah sipped his tea while Chakotay, too angry kept pacing. 

"Back home we have rules," said Chakotay. "If someone is dying and their organ can save the life of someone else and they refuse, then the organ dies with them. Even if that means the other person dies as well."

Mitsah sipped his tea as he listened to Chakotay like he was a curiosity. "If we'd chosen to have laws like that, we would have died out centuries ago," said Mitsah. "It's easy to be idealistic when you have the luxury to do so."

Chakotay paused. He felt like the events of the night were finally catching up to him. Suddenly he was exhausted. "Are we any better than those who steal organs from the living? What's the difference between us and whoever it was who stole Bayze's kidney?"

"There are days I honestly don't know," Mitsah admitted. 

 

*

 

_"How long do you think it's been?" asked Tom. "2 hours? 3?"_

_"I think 2 hours since the lights and com system went out," said Chakotay. "3 since the turbolift got stuck."_

_Tom was getting antsy. He'd never liked being stuck in small spaces much, and the fact they had no idea what was going on outside the lift just made him feel worse._

_At least the ship had stopped shaking so he knew whatever space battle had been going on out there had stopped. Tom took a breath and stood up again. It was easier when him and Chakotay were talking, but they seem to have run out of things to say. Except that one subject that Tom wasn't willing to touch. Not here._

_"You alright?" asked Chakotay._

_"Yeah," Tom lied, forcing himself to keep his voice steady. He was grateful it was dark, at leat he didn’t have to school his expression too. "Just getting a bit restless, that's all."_

_"You should conserve your energy," said Chakotay. "We don't know what's going on out there."_

_Tom didn't need reminded. If he just had room to move..._

_Suddenly the lift shook._

_"What was that?" asked Tom. He felt like the walls were closing in on him. He was sure this turbolift had been bigger when he got in. He wondered if the others were still alive. If they were going to die in this stupid turbo lift._

_"I don't know," said Chakotay getting up. How did he sound so calm._

_The air was starting to feel thin. "Life support," Tom managed, "I think it's failing. I can't breathe."_

_"Life support's fine," said Chakotay. And Tom felt Chakotay’s hand firmly grab his shoulder. They were close together. "You're hyperventilating. Tom, are you claustrophobic?"_

_No, Tom hadn't had a claustrophobic attack in years. Not since New Zealand. Except now his chest was tightening up and he realised that's what it was._

_"Breathe," said Chakotay. "Take a deep breath, we're going to be OK." He still sounded annoyingly calm._

_Tom breathed, then another because Chakotay told him to. "You don't know that."_

_"Come on Tom, you've never been one to give up that easily," said Chakotay and Tom swore he could hear his smile._

_Tom nodded. He'd get out of this turbo lift. He just needed to breathe. "Chakotay, I--"_

_Suddenly there a noise above them, then a spotlight, and Chakotay's face was literally right in front of Tom's. He froze looking at those dark concerned eyes._

_"You two need help?"_

_Tom looked up to see Harry's head peering down from a hole at the top of the turbolift. He grinned when he saw Tom looking up at him, and Tom felt his face heat up._

_"We'll have you two out in a minute," he said. "Hold tight."_

 

When Eschella found Paris again he was still working on his shuttle, but the number of Soladity officers had doubled since she had left for her appointment. 

"I guess they didn't like my phone call," said Tom, "they want to keep an eye on me."

"You shouldn't talk like that," said Eschella disapprovingly. "They're trying to help you."

"They're trying to get me off this planet as soon as possibly so they don't have to worry about me anymore," Tom corrected.

Eschella frowned. "I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch," she said.

Tom looked back at the suspicious Soladity. "I'm all yours," he said to Eschella with a smile. Besides, he thought, the longer he could draw out fixing the shuttle, the longer he had of figuring out how to find Chakotay.

"So where were you?" he asked as they walked.

"An appointment," said Eschella.

"Oh?"

"It's nothing," said Eschella. 

"I bet," drawled Tom.

Eschella frowned. "Look, it's not very pleasant, but once a year you have to go get tested for the phage. But," she smiled at Tom, "I have a clean bill of health. So nothing to worry about right now."

"That seems a bit extreme," said Tom. "So what happens if they see signs of the phage? They just toss you into the quarantine zone? So long and thanks for all the fish?"

Eschella looked thoughtful. "You know," she said, "Before the quarantines, we all lived in squalor. The quarantines have given us much more than they’ve taken. A test a year is a small price to pay.”

"And you'd be willing to give it all up, without even knowing what life is like in the quarantine zones? If you were ever diagnosed?"

"If it's the price we pay so that this disease doesn't control our lives anymore," Eschella’s tone was defensive. "You come from a paradise, Tom. How can't possibly understand what it's like to finally be free."

Tom frowned. Something about the whole situation made his skin crawl. "Are you free from the phage?" he asked, "because it doesn't look like it from where I'm standing."

"Of course we're free," said Eschella. 

"Really? Because it seems to me like your whole life revolves around it. You get regular checks. Your government keeps tight tabs on everyone. You can't leave this planet. You don't look that free to me."

Eschella glared at Tom. "You don't understand--"

"Eschella," Tom interrupted. "Where is everyone?"

The unexpected question threw her off balance and she looked back confused. "What do you mean?"

"I've been on this planet for a few days now and I don't think I've seen more than 10 people since I got here. The streets are empty. Except for when I'm working on my shuttle we spend all our time indoors where there's almost no one around. Where's the main square for shopping and businesses? Where are the parks and beaches and playgrounds for kids?"

"It's complicated," said Eschella.

"It's about avoiding infection, isn't it?" he asked. "No public gatherings. No crowds. No open public institutions like schools."

Eschella looked away and Tom knew he'd gotten it right. "This isn't living, Eschella," he said. "This is fear."

 

Tom sat on the hill and watched the water in the pond ripple. Just under the the sparkling reflection from their orange sun, Tom could make it out small shadows swimming around. A beautiful area without a soul to be found.

"I brought you some food," said Eschella appearing behind him and handing him something spongy and blue. "It's sweet," she reassured him.

"Hey, look I'm sorry," said Tom gratefully taking the food while Eschella sat down beside him. "You've helped me a lot."

"No," Eschella shook her head. "You were right. We're afraid," she said. "I think we have every right to be afraid. But we do let it rule our lives too much."

Tom took a bite of the food he was offered. She was right, it tasted a lot like an Earth pastry. Maybe a bit tangier. "Is this why we get to sit outside today?"

Eschella smiled and took a bite of her own food. She looked thoughtful. "Last year my husband came down with the phage. He was sleeping a lot and he was moving slowly, like he was in pain. I should have seen it. In retrospect I think I didn't want to see it. It's a miracle I didn't catch it too."

Tom looked back at Eschella. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know."

Eschella shook her head, and Tom thought he looked a little misty eyed. "It's OK," she said. "It all happened so fast, from finding the infection to him leaving. It made no sense, we both did everything right."

She stared off in the water, knees up with her head resting on her arms. Her food half eaten, forgotten in her left hand. "It really is like they die," she said. "Contact is heavily discouraged. And nearly impossible anyways. There's a small wake. I think about him a lot. I wonder if he's still alive."

"What do you know about the quarantines?" asked Tom. 

Eschella shrugged. "Almost nothing. Why?"

Tom frowned. "Eschella, I've met Vidiians before. Off planet."

Eschella frowned. "I don't understand."

"Vidiians, with the phage," Tom clarified. "My ship, we've run into them a few times travelling through this sector of space. They weren't positive encounters. The people we met were desperate."

"No," said Eschella, "that's impossible, the government wouldn't allow it."

"Eschella, some of the Vidiians I've met have been members of the Soladity. You're government's directly involved."

"You're lying," accused Eschella. 

"The lie is here," said Tom, "in this bubble your people have created. We crashed on this planet because we were trying to escape Vidiian ships."

"No," said Eschella, she was looking somewhere between angry and tears. "That makes no sense. We gave up our space programme to focus our resources to fight the phage. Why would we be in space?"

Tom could feel his heart break. "Eschella, I--"

Tom was interrupted when his communicator went off. "Chakotay to Paris, do you read me?"

Tom dropped his food and both him and Eschella sat frozen for a moment. 

"Are you there, Tom?" Chakotay repeated, startling Tom out of his shock. He fumbled quickly for his communicator. 

"Chakotay! You're alive!" Tom wanted to start laughing. He felt a huge bubble or relief rise up within him. He hadn't realise how worried he'd been until he wasn't anymore.

"I could say the same thing about you," said Chakotay. "Someone stole my communicator."

"Where are you?" asked Tom.

"I'm in the quarantine zones." Tom's relief fizzled away. 

"That's no good," said Tom. "I'm not, I'm in their capital city."

Chakotay went quiet for a moment. "Do you still have the shuttle?"

"Yeah, she should be ready to fly by tomorrow," said Tom.

"I think I can get into Space," said Chakotay. "We can meet in orbit."

Tom put his communicator away and looked back at Eschella. "You can do what you want," he said. "But if you want to see if I'm telling the truth or not, I can show you."

Eschella watched Tom thoughtfully for a long moment. "OK," she agreed.

 

*

 

_Chakotay noticed the kid was drunk. And it wasn't on synthale either. He looked like a mess, two day old stubble and a weird brown stain on the back of his jacket, staring blearily at the colourful wall of alcohol bottles behind the bar. Chakotay double checked his padd to make sure he had the right person. He never would have guessed on his own that this guy had been a starfleet officer._

_He approached the bar._

_"It's Paris, right? I heard you're a pilot?" he said._

_"Yeah, well you heard wrong," said Tom. "I _used_ to be a pilot. S'not anymore."_

_Chakotay picked up Tom's drink and sniffed it. Earth whisky. Definitely not synthale._

_"What if I had a job for you anyways?"_

_Tom looked unimpressed, and took his drink back, taking a large gulp before setting it back down the counter. "You must be desperate," he said._

_It stung because he was right. "Guess that makes two of us," said Chakotay._

_Tom looked thoughtful. "I'm desperate to fly," he admitted. "You give me that, and I'll follow you to the ends of the galaxy and back again."_

_Chakotay hadn't expected much from Tom. They'd needed a new pilot since Schoon had been caught in a raid while ze was on Portas V. But here, despite the drunkeness, there was a glitter in Tom's eyes. A passion he hadn't expected it._

_"You should know--" Chakotay started._

_"That you're maquis?" said Tom. And there was an intelligence sparkling behind those eyes Chakotay hadn’t expected either. A gleam when he realised he guessed right. "I know who you are, Chakotay. And I don't care. Just let me fly."_

_Chakotay held out his hand. "It's a deal."_

 

Tom couldn't believe how good it felt to be back behind the controls of his shuttlecraft. His shuttle had been fixed for a few hours but they had decided to leave at night so no one would notice Eschella leaving with him.

"I don't believe it," said Eschella scanning the area with the shuttlecraft's computers. "There's ships everywhere, how did we not know?"

"I'm sorry Eschella," said Tom.

"No, don't be," she said. "You're not the one who has anything to be sorry about."

Tom was watching the scans too, but for different reasons. He didn't understand why they were all ignoring them. Still he hoped Chakotay's ship would show up soon. 

"Why would they lie?" she asked. "What else are they lying about?"

The console beeped. "We're being hailed," Tom explained to Eschella. "It's Chakotay."

The view screen lit up and Tom couldn't believe how good it was, seeing Chakotay's face again. He looked healthy and whole, so that was a lot of his mind in and of itself. The other Vidiians on the ship looked much more like the ones he knew, but he was surprised to see a young man beside him who looked as healthy as Eschella did. A quick glance at Eschella confirmed that she was as surprised as he was.

Chakotay grinned. "It's really good to see you, Tom."

Tom couldn't quite stop himself from smiling back. "Are you ready to come on board?"

"Drop your shields and I'll beam right over."

A moment later Chakotay disappeared from the view screen and reappeared on the shuttle craft behind them. 

"Chakotay," Tom jumped up, and then felt a bit embarrassed by jumping up. But he'd spent the last few days wondering if the worst had happened. 

"Look, Tom," Chakotay started, taking a step forward.

"I just wanted to say--" Tom started at the same time. And then they both stopped and then next thing Tom knew they were kissing. And Tom couldn't have been more grateful to actually be able to feel the heat and substance of him underneath him, and confirm in the most tactile way possible that Chakotay was really here. 

He felt himself melt and wouldn’t have minded just doing that forever. He wondered briefly when he’d started to feel like this.

"I've wanted to do that for a while," Chakotay admitted when they've separated. 

Tom laughed. 

"You really have no fear, do you?" asked Eschella amazed. 

"Chakotay this is my friend, Eschella," said Tom introducing them. "She stitched me back up when I crashed on the planet."

“So you did crash,” said Chakotay not looking very impressed. To Eschella he said, "It's a pleasure to meet you,” He started to extend his hand, but Eschella flinched and he put it back down.

"Sorry," Eschella said quickly. "It's good meet you too. I've been enjoying Tom's company. Do you mind if I ask you who your friend was? On the other ship?"

"You mean Dr Mitsah," said Chakotay. 

"He didn't look like he had the phage."

"He doesn't," confirmed Chakotay. 

"He's just there to help phage victims?" Eschella looked back at the empty view screen in awe. She stared for a while and Tom thought maybe she was watching her planet turn. 

The console beeped and Tom put the Vidiian ship back up on the view screen. 

The Vidiian captain spoke. "As a favour to Mitsah, we will escort you through Vidiian space, but then we can no longer guarantee your protection."

"Thank you, I just need to transport my friend back to the planet's surface and we'll go," said Tom.

"Wait," said Eschella. She seemed to be thinking hard about something. "Can--" she paused, bit her lip then started talking again. "Can I go aboard your ship?"

Both the Vidiians on the other ship and Chakotay and Paris looked at her in surprise. 

"Are you sure?" asked Tom. "The phage doesn't seem to like humans, you should still be safe going home."

"I just--I don't want to go back," she said, to Tom. "I don't want to live in a fake bubble that pretends everything is fine while people are suffering. I don't want to be lied to anymore."

"You don't have to go the quarantine zones and risk infection," said Tom. "You can come back with us."

Eschella looked back at the Vidiian ship. She was quiet for a moment, as she considered Tom's offer. "No," she finally said. "I'm Vidiian, my place is here. I want to help my own people."

"You're welcome to join me," said Mitsah, from the other ship. "But you shouldn't make this choice lightly. It will be a much harder life than the one you're used to."

Eschella nodded. "I think this is what I want," she said. "I want to help my people and maybe even find my husband if he's still alive."

She gave Tom a quick strong hug to say thank you, and then she let go and the transporter overtook her and she was gone. 

The Vidiian ship is asking us to follow them," said Chakotay. 

"Alright, let's get out of here before Voyager gives up on us and leaves the sector." Tom set a course.

"I'm not sorry to the see the back of that planet," Tom admitted as they went. 

"No," agreed Chakotay. "But it was interesting," he glanced over at Tom. "In more ways than one."

Tom grinned despite himself. His lips were still tingling. Eventually his euphoria would pass and he'd have to start thinking about things, but for now he was just happy they were both alive on their way home.

"You ever wonder if Earth had been hit with a disease like the phage, if we'd react the same way?" asked Chakotay. 

Tom shook his head. "I don't wonder, desperate people will always do desperate things. But even in the worst of times, you'll always find good people who still care about people."

Chakotay looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yes," he agreed. "Somehow we do."


End file.
